Discuss the content and style of the different clinical psychology doctoral training courses, the differences between them, placements, teaching, chat to other trainees and connect with other people who have places on the same course

I wonder if there are any Leeds current (or recently finished) trainees who wouldn't mind answering a few questions (feel free to PM if that feels more comfortable).

What is the pattern of teaching and study days on the programme? The most recent Alternative Handbook says first year study day half day on a Friday in year one - is that still the case?In the university holidays does teaching on the course still take place? If not, are these given as study days or are they extra days on placement?Would it be possible to attend placements without a car? Obviously I realise there are diverse placements but wondered what the overall picture isWhat is take home monthly pay on AFC bottom of Band 6 with/without pension contribution? Obviously there may be variations according to people's tax code but rough idea would be helpfulI believe the Widening Access scheme has been discontinued for Clinical Psychology courses - has the Trust confirmed that?

I do have questions about the course itself but wanted to get clear about some of the practicalities first...

1. I'm a first year and we didn't have many study days before Christmas and then moved on to sort of most Mondays as study days. I think this will continue to be the case.

2. When the university is closed over summer, we'll be doing 4 days on placement and we will have 1 study day a week.

3. It is possible to attend placements without a car but do expect a long commute. Placements could be anywhere in West Yorkshire. The university (not the course) "strongly advices" everyone to live in West Yorkshire for courses that require frequent physical attendance, but some of us live further afield.

4. You can work out what your take home pay will be using the bottom of band 6 minus NI, student loans and pension (NHS pension will be 7.1%). Also depending on how much travel expenses you get reimbursed the take home pay tends to be different.

5. The discontinuation of the widening access scheme has not been confirmed.

The teaching and study time arrangements vary across the three years and there are some changes planned for next year. As far as I know it will look like this:

First year:Mon-Wed placement Thur-Fri teaching (over the course of the year you get the equivalent of half a day per week or 1 day per fortnight study, but it doesn't follow a strict pattern, we would often go for several weeks with no study and then get a full day for 2 weeks in a row for example).Mid-July to end of September teaching ends, you go up to 4 days placement and get one study day every week.

Second year:Monday study dayTues-Thurs placement Friday teaching When teaching ends you continue to do 3 days placement and get x2 study per week.

Third year:Thursday teaching 2 days placement and 2 study until thesis hand in (May), you agree which days with your supervisor.After thesis hand in, you go up to 4 days on placement and still have a study day every week once teaching ends in July.

In terms of driving, there's no formal requirement to have a car. If you don't drive for health/disability reasons they will ensure you are put on a placement that is accessible. Otherwise, it's important to bear in mind that placements cover all of West Yorkshire plus Harrogate. In the more rural areas and some community placements where home visits and agile working are common, it would be a lot more difficult without a car. The course will keep in mind where you live if they can, but your competency needs always come first and the placements that get offered vary considerably from year to year. For example, there were only 2 or 3 adult placements in Leeds for my cohort in first year. Public transport in Leeds is quite good if you live near a train station, the bus system is quite unreliable though. Basically it's much easier to have a car if you can, but it's certainly not impossible to do it without, you will just probably end up with a longer commute and potentially more limited opportunities on placement.

The pay issue is complicated because of the widening access stuff, I don't know anything regarding what the arrangement is for future cohorts. Assuming the tax relief does not continue, that you opt in to the pension scheme and are repaying student loans, I reckon it is approximately 1600 per month and you move up a spine point each year. You can also claim back travel to and from placement so long as you live in West Yorkshire.

You didn't mention whether you were just doing some research or if you have a place, but congratulations if you are joining us in October!

Thank you so much Anniecat for posting these questions as they were all on my mind. Thank you also to ClaireEmma and Saf for posting such full and helpful responses which totally mirror how nice everyone at the interview day was. As has already been said on another thread, the staff and current trainees did an amazing job.

Despite having left the interview content with having had such an unexpectedly pleasant experience (albeit kicking myself slightly for completely blanking out on one of the questions) I was absolutely stunned (and thrilled!) to be offered a place. I am still convinced it is a mistake and am half expecting the 'I'm terribly sorry we were in such a hurry to get the results out on Friday that we sent you the wrong one' email first thing tomorrow. However I have also at times been able to let 'this may be real' infiltrate my consciousness and allow myself to start to think about practicalities.

I am an older applicant and career changer and beginning training will mean quite a significant cut in salary (but unfortunately not outgoings!) for me. It is obviously something I have planned for and thought through carefully but I did make my financial calculations based on expecting the tax relief as mentioned in the Alternative Handbook. It is a little disappointing to learn that HMRC have changed their policy on Trainee CPs being part of the scheme. However, I am determined to find a way to make it work.

I am fortunate to have one - local - interview to go (which would make a whole heap more sense financially). However, I find myself in the bizarre position of almost wanting to not get in because I was so taken with the Leeds course and also really loved the feel of the city.

I really hope that I get to meet you all in October and thank you again so much for the questions and answers - they were a great help to me.

Thanks for all helpful info from current Leeds trainees and the OP for questions. I have not applied this year but am trying to decide whether to apply for clinical next year or take a different career path which I have to make a decision on in the next couple of weeks.

Could anyone give me an idea of the length of teaching days/placements as I have small kids and am trying to figure out details? Also, while I know it is going to be an individual thing to some extent but on average how much evening/weekend work is required. Obviously I realise training is a demanding process which I am totally up for, but was just curious as to how much it will cut into family time.

Also, with first year placements - does everyone do both an adult and CAMHS placement?

Teaching days are 9.30-4.30 and placement days are 8 hours long, you can usually negotiate the hours with your supervisor, so I tend to do 8-4 or 8.30-4.30. In the first 2 years, each placement is just under 6 months. Half the cohort starts with an adult placement and half with a child placement, then you swap over. There's a wider range of placements available in second year and the focus is on getting both experience of working with older people and with different levels of cognitive ability, so this could be done in services such as LD, Older Adult, Neuro, Health and Forensic.

Regarding out of hours studying, it varies across the course and between trainees depending on how they like to work. I tend to have several weeks close to deadlines where I'm doing a fair bit at the weekend, but also have weeks at a time where I don't do any work at all, and using study days well helps to make this manageable.

cascina wrote:I am fortunate to have one - local - interview to go (which would make a whole heap more sense financially). However, I find myself in the bizarre position of almost wanting to not get in because I was so taken with the Leeds course and also really loved the feel of the city.

That's the exact position I was in after my Leeds offer! I've now been offered a place at my local uni and people have to keep reminding me that the decision is a "nice problem to have". I'm now weighing up how much I liked the Leeds course with how much financially better off I'd be staying put!

Congratulations on your offers. It really depends on your personal preferences, budget and how close you want to be to uni.

A very popular and nice area is Chapel Allerton, to the north of the city. If you are wanting to live alone, it is pretty expensive, but you'll find houseshares for a decent price.

Headingley is pretty close to uni (just to the west of the city) and is reasonably priced, a little more studenty perhaps but lots of cafes and bars etc. I live around there and it's perfectly fine.

A bit further out from there is Horsforth which I think is quite nice, has a village feel and not so studenty.

However, if you want a cheap option that's very close to uni then areas like Burley Park and Hyde Park are an option, I think it's fair to say not the prettiest of areas though.

Generally speaking, towards the north and west of the city are better places to live than south or east, there are exceptions though of course.

Some trainees do live outside Leeds too e.g Wakefield, Bradford, Manchester and York. I think that's usually when people already have some kind of affiliation with one of the other towns, but not always, some places outside Leeds you just get more for your money and placements are often available across the county. You need to live within West Yorkshire though if you want claim your travel to placement back though.

Thanks Claire, that's really helpful. I'm going to arrange a few viewings for next weekend so I'll have a look in the places you've mentioned whilst searching. Not much time left so fingers crossed the viewings help me to make a decision!

I've heard of trainees living in house shares in Chapel Allerton (not necessarily with othe rtrainees) which is a fashionable area with bars, real ale bar, shops etc. And bus routes into town. It's possible to walk to the Uniersity from there if you don't mind a hike. It's on the right side of Leeds for driving to St James (where health psychology is based), Becklin Centre (inpatient mental health), Wakefield (has forensics) and Seacroft which as a low secure forensic setting and eating disorders centre and I think LD services too. However it is very pricey!

Horsforth is a lovely place. It used to be a village and is now a thriving suburb of Leeds with a good community and shops, bars and restaraunt but an increase in prices over the last decade or two to match! It has buses to the Parkinson steps outside Leeds Uni (number 97) as well as the 50 and 50a bus. Bus takes about 1/2 hour or longer during rush houe. It is much easier to get to Bradford on that side of Leeds but takes longer to St James and Seacroft. There are also two train stations nearby - Horforth and Kirkstall Forge.

Headingley and Hyde Park are VERY studenty and unless you plan on living a stereotypical young undergrad lifestyle are, IMHO, best avoided. The same goes, to a lesser extent, for Burley Park.

Meanwood has come up a lot in the world recently and is where people live when Chapel Allerton is too expensive. It's got an Aldi and a Waitrose, as well as growing number of bars and places to eat. it is near the urban city farm.

If you want to ask about any other areas then ask away...there are lots of other lovely places - generally North Leeds. If money is no problem and you want something more for your 30s than 20s than Roundhay is gorgeous, with the giant Roundhay park. The western area of Leeds is coming up including Rodley, Farsely and Pudsey but it is further out and not so great if you don't know people in Leeds yet. Morley is also getting more popular (in south leeds). Cookridge and Adel are leafy suburbia with easy access to the countryside. Otley and Ilkley are both very lovely market towns if you want a more outdoor lifestyle but have much longer commutes to placements. Otley is more affordable than Ilkley which is notoriously pricey.

Some depends on whether you're looking to buy, rent alone or house share and whether there are partner or kids to consider.

I now come in with my next question, just a quick one and seemingly very organised (I don't usually think this far ahead)...

I'm just wondering about parking, as I know the city is pretty expensive - do any of you guys have any suggestions of places to park when in uni? I assume there are places to park that are cheaper a little further out if we don't mind a bit of a walk?